Indian media coverage of Nizamuddin Markaz event during COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

The corona virus pandemic, apart from being an economic and human tragedy, has affected the socio-fabric of India by increasing hate, xenophobia, and prejudices against minorities. Thus, an analysis of Indian media, with respect to COVID-19 spread, becomes important. A religious congregation organized by Jammat e Islami, a global religious organization in Delhi, between March 1 and 21, brought more than 5,000 people from various countries to India's capital. This event led to a major spike in corona cases in India. This gathering was dubbed as potential hotspot by mainstream media in India. The widespread reporting of this news had major implications for intercommunal relations (Hindu-Muslim relations) in India. Given the background, the present paper tries to analyze the media coverage of this mega event and its implications on Indian society. During our review, we analyzed various mainstream newspapers such as Times of India, Indian Express, Business Standard, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Wire, and The Print. The "Markaz event" was dubbed by Indian media as a coronavirus hotspot. They reported that the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Nizamuddin West, New Delhi from March 1 to 21 has emerged as the epicenter for the spread of coronavirus to different parts of the country. Gupta (2020) writes that the congregation at the Jamaat headquarters in Delhi has been single largest source of infection in Delhi and responsible for two-thirds of COVID-19 cases (total 1,080 out of 1,561 cases) that are being treated. The highest number of COVID-19 cases linked to Jamaat was 325 out of 351 cases. As the Outlook reported on April 3, 2020, the total cases linked to Jamaat was 647 in 14 states of India. There were 4291 (29.8%) cases were linked to Jamaat out of 14,378 total cases in India, including that of Tamil Nadu (84%) and Telangana (79%) (

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